Category Archives: Movies
John Q. Public and the Suspension of Disbelief
Contrary to popular belief, people are not stupid. Or I should say, audiences are not stupid.
Though I lament the fact that shows like Jersey Shore and Dancing with the Stars are incredibly popular, and audiences can embrace The Voice or The X-Factor after a million seasons of American Idol, there will always be a place on television for scripted shows. Fiction-based dramas and comedies about created characters and their adventures will always be at the forefront of entertainment, and they will always be my favorite kind of show.
That being said, I sometimes find it difficult to get into a new show. So in an effort to broaden my viewing options, I sat down to watch the first three episodes of the new show Once Upon a Time on ABC.
Don't let their pleasant, perfectly posed appearances fool you - it's a bad show
I watched the first episode and half of the second episode before stopping. I just couldn’t stand it anymore. Once Upon a Time, at least as much as I saw, seems to lack all subtlety in its premise of Fairy Tale characters living in the present day. Its characters lack depth, its story is overly complicated and it takes incredible leaps in logic to fit those complications into place. But perhaps worst of all, Once Upon a Time violates storytelling rule No. 1 – Show, Don’t Tell.
That’s why audiences are not stupid. If writers and producers treat their stories with respect and skill, then the average audience will gladly suspend their disbelief for even the wildest of ideas.
The Lorax is Being Turned into an Abomination, I Mean a Movie
The trailer for Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax has hit the Internet, and I’m pretty sure it’s an abomination unto humanity. I’ll grant that it’s been a few years since I’ve read The Lorax, but I’m pretty sure it didn’t involve wacky grandmothers, bike races, a love story, or the Lorax as a wise-cracking Danny DeVito. Has Hollywood learned nothing from Mike Meyers’ The Cat in the Hat? Or Jim Carrey’s Grinch movie? Sure Horton Hears a Who was alright, but that at least stuck to the actual story.
This…I don’t even know what this is – other than the worst movie trailer I’ve ever seen.
Because Voltron is Awesome, That’s Why
Rumors of a live action Voltron movie have been circulating Hollywood for years now. I remember reading once that the producers wanted to give it a realistic ‘Batman Begins’ style. I’m all in favor of that. I was a huge Voltron fan as a kid…even if my memories now are very hazy. Still, Voltron is a fun concept and it could make for a badass movie if handled correctly.
So let’s see how Director Alex Albrecht would handle it.
This video sort of just appeared on the Internet today. I’ve been trying to dig up some info, but am finding none. It stars actor Timothy Omundson, who has starred in Deadwood, Psych and other shows. So he’s a legitimate actor. And this looks like a serious, pretty decent sort of film about Voltron. It stars an older Keith, pilot of the Red Lion, having crashed after some battle. He only has precious little oxygen left. What’s he to do?
Pretty gloomy.
Here’s the description on the official Youtube page:
When a man regains consciousness in a Voltron battle lion after an “accident” he has to decide does he live a few more minutes or try to tell the world what happened… the end is only the beginning.
Could this be something similar to Mortal Kombat: Rebirth? Where a fan of the games wanted to make a new, serious movie, so he first made his own fan film…only to have it become so popular online that Hollywood’s going to let him make a real movie? That would be awesome! We could be looking at the birth of a new form of movie-making. If you want to get your movie made, make it your own damn self and put it on the Internet. That’s how Kevin Smith got started, only he had to pay a few million to get it produced and into theaters. Now these indie guys can post it online.
Either way, I look forward to possibly more Voltron short films!
Go, Voltron Force!
Geek Does Good, Gets to Make New Mortal Kombat Film
Fear the fury of the front-flips! Shriek at the ferocity of the finishers! Quiver at the capacity of the…catch phrases! New Line Cinema is making a new Mortal Kombat movie, and they’ve hired the guy who directed the recent Glee concert movie to be in charge! Does that sound like a winning combination or what?
Get over here!...and sing me a song!
But seriously, it’s actually a pretty cool story and I have high hopes. The director Kevin Tancharoen got the job by being the biggest Mortal Kombat fanboy ever. While the video game series is pretty cool, the Mortal Kombat movies in the 90s were train wreck of idiotic costumes, horrible acting and groaningly stupid dialogue. They were cheesy and campy because movie studios are idiots. So two years ago, Tancharoen got his pals together and some actual Hollywood actors and made his own Mortal Kombat fan film. He made it realistic and brutal, with actual stakes and no silly costumes.
He called it Mortal Kombat: Rebirth.
It’s actually pretty badass.
The Interwebs loved that little video, and it garnered enough attention that New Line Cinema hired Tancharoen to produce a series of Mortal Kombat webisodes. They were short little mini-movies that ran earlier this year, featuring rebooted or retooled versions of the classic Mortal Kombat characters. For some reason, it wasn’t an exact take off Mortal Kombat: Rebirth. In a lot of places, he relied more on the original video game origins and characters than on his rebooted versions, which I found weird. But for the most part, the short films were pretty good.
And now, after that first series of webisodes, New Line Cinema has hired Tancharoen to just make a full blown movie! That’s pretty damn awesome. A geek who loves a property enough to make his own fan film does such a good job and earns such acclaim that a movie studio hands him the keys to the franchise for reals.
That’s every geek’s dream come true. That’s like writing a Batman fan fiction story on the Internet and then DC Comics letting you write an issue of Batman because your story was just so neat.
I guess I need to start working on my Strawberry Shortcake fan film…
Hey Look, It’s the Avengers!
Hey, hey we’re the Avengers, and we like to Avenger around. Check out these awesome official photos from Entertainment Weekly. We get a mix of publicity photos and set photos of the Avengers. They’re not the greatest of photos…but just seeing them in good definition, non-grainy images is a thing of beauty.My favorite is this one of Tony Stark standing around with Captain America.
A possible movie bromance?
Just the sight of them together…it’s hard to wrap my head around. That’s Captain America hanging out with Tony Stark! This is real. They look great together. The image really works. I can’t wait for a full reveal of all the Avengers together in costume. It’s going to overwhelm the Internet.
Here we have Hawkeye and Black Widow shooting at something. Maybe aliens!
I hope it's aliens
The funniest picture is of the cast just hanging out in costume with director Joss Whedon. I don’t know if it’s just me, but Joss Whedon has been aging terribly.
Oh how I wish I was there
The weirdest picture of them all is the character profile of Bruce Banner, played by Mark Ruffalo. This is supposed to be the Incredible Hulk, and this was the best face he could make?
You won't like him when he's pouty
Henchman-4-Hire 